Fox Affiliate Head Charged With Public Lewdness

GM Robert Linger arrested in Tampa adult video theater

TAMPA, Fla. - When Max Hardcore goes on trial in Tampa next week, it looks like he'll have at least one media fan in town.

Robert W. Linger, general manager of Fox Broadcasting affiliate WTVT-13, was arrested for masturbating with five other men in the video theater inside Fantasy Land Adult Video Store last Friday, according to a report published in the St. Petersburg Times.

Bizarrely, the report states that the six men "formed a circle around the undercover officers inside the theater and began masturbating." There is no mention of whether the undercover officers were female or male.

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The theater is considered a "public place," and Fantasy Land has posted signs on the entrance stating, "no sexual acts allowed beyond this point."

The men were charged with "exposure of sexual organs" and "lewd and lascivious acts," both of which are misdemeanors.

The last time Fantasy Land had police trouble was in July, 2002, when cops arrested 14 people on prostitution and other charges.

No word yet on whether Hardcore will personally invite Linger and his reporters to cover Hardcore's obscenity trial.